2024 – SWIRLDISC
By Phillip Smith; Dec. 28, 2024
Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com
FreeWorld is definitely one of the must-see bands in Memphis
Tennessee. For over thirty-seven years, this ever-changing ensemble has
been captivating audiences and earning the utmost respect from their contemporaries.
They sure have my full attention. In 2012 they were honored to receive a brass
note on the Beale Street Walk of Fame. Fronted by Richard Cushing
(producer/ band director/ lead vocals/ bass guitars/ shaker/ ratchet), FreeWorld
is also comprised of Peter Climie (saxophones/ NuRAD EWI/ tambourine), Cedric
Taylor (Hammond B3/ grand piano/ Wurlitzer/ Nord), Alex Schuetrumpf
(trumpet/ piccolo trumpet/ flugelhorn), Courtney Reid (lead & backing
vocals), Frank Paladino (baritone saxophone), Freedman Steorts
(trombone), Walter Hughes (guitars), Matt Sweatt (drums). More
Love, their eighth album is a melting pot of fourteen fresh original tracks
baptized in the vibrant sounds of funk, jazz, soul, rock, and blues.
I’m instantly charged by the high-vibrational sounds of “Outta Sight”. The track ferociously tears the roof off and opens things up. The rhythm is slathered in funk, the horns are so hot they melt, and the guitar solo is phenomenal. Soaked in that Southern spiritual goodness, title-track “More Love, sung by special guest Jerome Chism with the Tennessee Mass Choir is a beautiful anthem. I dig the addition of slide guitar by special guest Aubrey McCrady into the intoxicating sounds of their reggae song “Heart on the Table”. That’s really unique. In numerology 11:11 refers to a reset or transition. FreeWorld brings it to song form with “11:11 on Beale”, a relaxed horn-fueled jazz instrumental which serves as a backdrop for a free-flowing spoken-word homage to Beale Street by Benjamin Theolonius “IQ” Sanders. It’s a very cool track indeed. “Who Knew” draws me in with its buttery rhythm before it really wows me with the sax-guitar dual, steering the song into a smoking instrumental. I snuggle right in to the feel-good and carefree blanket of “Nothin’ Wrong”. The song reminds me of the playfulness of one of my favorite bands Phish. Closing out the album is “D-Up (Here’s to Diversity)” the second of two bonus tracks. With lyrics written by FreeWorld’s drummer David Skypeck, the song made its first recorded appearance twenty-five years ago on their 1999 album called Diversity. The song was re-recorded in 2020 and featured over three dozen Memphis artists to make a ‘We Are the World”-inspired video with stars like Earl “the Pearl” Banks, Joyce Cobb, Luther Dickinson, Al Kapone and Blind Mississippi Morris. The version on this album is from the 2020 video and I absolutely love it.
FreeWorld’s More Love has everything I like to hear in an album. It has surely landed among my favorites for the year,
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D-Up (Here’s to Diversity)
For more information about FreeWorld, visit the website @ https://freeworldmemphis.com
